A cool draft entered the room from where Ike was sitting on his bed, the night young and troubled. He had been awake for hours, the time drawling on and on until Ike couldn't take it anymore. No matter how alert he had to be, he couldn't sleep, he probably wouldn't until the crack of dawn, and even then he would be sluggish. Shuffling out of bed, Ike made his way over to where Roy was sleeping, the redhead's eyebrows furrowed and his hair tousled, Ike couldn't help but to stare. The freezing winter draft blew through the window, making Ike shiver before he walked over to it and closed it with the gentlest thud he could bring it to make. Still, Robin startled awake, gazing at the environment with wild, tireless eyes. Ike frowned at the display and grunted to let him know of his presence. Robin's head shot over to where the swordsman was standing, the entire room being bathed in an awkward silence until Robin mumbled an apology and flopped back down onto his bed to rest, the chirping of one or two crickets echoing out into the night. Ike sighed and left the room, grabbing the quilt from his bed just so he wouldn't risk freezing. He could gaze at the stars, perhaps? Or maybe take a quick run around the neighborhood. Anything to tire him out, and he would take extreme measures to that, even hitting his head on a rock as a last measure.
Ike tip toed down the hallway with oddly silent steps, the only sound in the home being the animals outside, Shulk snoring, and the fridge making an odd humming noise. It was, what he would title: the calmest calm to ever calm him. Hell, he would take to sleeping anywhere if it was this level of calm, and to think that no one was shaken enough to sleep, they simply treated it as a way of life. Ike was, believe it or not, jealous of those who think that way, those who are calm. Not once did the thought of killing leave his mind, and his childish skill of forgetfulness wasn't going to take him far when it came to this. No one could, not unless they were some superhuman.
A cool draft sunk under Ike's quilt, the teenager ignoring it and draping it onto his shoulders as if it was a cape. It was, in a way. It granted pride like no other, and Ike needed something right now. This pride seemed to fit the bill to some sort of foreign extent. The heavy creak of the door was quiet under Ike's touch, and he slipped from the house unnoticed, the cool night air forcing his lungs to open and his breaths to become less shallow. It was, in fact, how Ike thought of the world. The deeper you got into the beauty, the more breath it'll give you. For Ike, taking breaths away was nearly impossible.
The freezing ground crunched under Ike's feet, the latter paying no mind to it as he made his way up a small hill, his "cape" flowing behind him as if it wasn't a heavy quilt. To him, however, it remained to be pride. Ike moved himself closer towards the hill, the sky catching his attention at small intervals, and the rest of the time, he focused on the top of the hill. Ike plopped down into the freezing, sticky snow and stared. He stared for a long time at the sky, his eyes captured by the beauty of it all. Several stars and galaxies, but he was stuck on this one. So many. Ike felt himself slipping from his mind, he felt his eyes drooping after staring for 30 minutes straight, and he felt himself rise and walk the way back. His movements were drunken, and he probably wouldn't get inside without being found stumbling around. Ike settled on resting on the front porch, and that he did. His cape wrapped around him like a cocoon and he found himself comfortable on the hard cement. It was, to say the least, an effect that exhaustion had.
[THE NEXT DAY]
Morning came, bringing with it a load of confused humans ( and Hyrulians ) staring at a peaceful Ike. Roy sighed and lightly shook the sleeping male, Ike jolting before shooting up and reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. Roy slowly pressed and hand to Ike's temple and frowned,"Good morning, Ike." He mumbled, making sure that Ike didn't have a fever nor an illness. Zelda frowned in the background, shuffling through a satchel before she tossed a bottle of medicine towards Ike,"Drink some of that, it has some antibodies in it to keep you from getting sick." She said, Ike roughly snatching it from the air and waterfalling it. Roy frowned for a moment before taking the bottle from Ike and tossing it back to Zelda. Well, it wasn't much of a toss, it was more like a pitch. Old habits must die hard, and it was true.
After lifting Ike from the ground and Link scolding him for a moment, they went into the kitchen to eat breakfast. A thick blanket of creeping fear surrounded them all, and Pit seeming to be feeling it the most, you'd think that it'd be Shulk. Robin slowly ate one of his pancakes with a frown, his gaze set on Pit and his floor - food extravaganza. Really, Ryu was going to be pissed that he had to clean up the kitchen today. This was also the day they needed to set off, the dry pancakes being the last thing they ate there before leaving. You see, Ike had made another set of plans for the group, saying that they needed to search for, and find, their parents. Shulk also needed to get back home, so they decided to take Shulk with them until they passed by the city he lived in. Ike remembered him saying that it was more like a crowded town, and that still made him chuckle. It was, now that he thought of it, a good plan, and based on all the looks they had on their faces, they were informed this morning about it. Well, you can't see everything. Ike spotted Roy take a quick jab at Link's pancake and stuff it into his mouth, wildly gazing at the disgruntled Hylian as he chewed. Ike frowned and grumbled something about Roy being greedy before he scooted over to do some more brooding before eating his warm breakfast, everyone else waiting for him to finish so they knew what to pack as extras. Ike silently hoped Pit would get his own bag, he really did.
"So, we're heading out, Ryu." Ike mumbled, a sad smile on his face as he grabbed a satchel of food and some water from Ryu. Ryu just laughed and patted him on the back, a reassuring effort as he pushed them out of the home, handing Shulk a map before waving them off. Ike took that as a sign to head out, and that's what he did. The entirety of the crew set off, a freezing draft of what was a remnant of the night before blew in their faces as they continued to travel from the city. There was no way their family could be here, not that they knew. If so, then someone would have told him something, but everyone knew where thy could have gone, and they followed. It was like a sixth sense, and no one was to judge it; they knew, they really did, and they wouldn't tell a soul about it.
Roy was silent as they walked from Ryu's house, his eyes on the hard cement and rigid rocks, on the road. He, with a few others, thought of all the questions they could of asked the others. Roy still hadn't gotten to ask Lyn about his father, and no one had found Marth yet, either. He was, to them, a lost case with very little hope of being found. Instead, they put that motivation into something else, like getting somewhere safer before anything happened to them. Shulk was surveying the map he was given, making sure to jot down their path so they know where they were going, and where they came from. The cold draft remained as they made their way further out of the city, the amount of people becoming less and less until there wasn't even pavement. It was, in all honesty, like a forest. Traces of footprints littered the ground, and the snow had clearly begun to melt. Pine trees and barren oaks littered the area, an odd combination of trees that almost none of them had seen before, but Shulk seemed to like the deep smell of the pines. Birds that liked the winter, ( the climate in the forest oddly felt like Spring ) which were very few to be in with, fluttered and shuffled, the trees shaking and rattling at their movements. Roy was slowly becoming accustomed to the smell of pine as Shulk had, and Ike seemed to be getting used to it quickly, too, or he was just hiding his unidentified disgust very well. Ike seemed almost– happy.
To Roy, it was unusual to see Ike so pleased with such a deep scent, the only scent he seemed to be moderately pleased with was fresh grass and baseballs, but he seemed pleased with this. Roy, for one reason, didn't like the forest because of the towering trees, all of them seeming to want to fall at any minute. It was unsettling, and even Link knew it, the Hylian glancing around time to time instead of continuing to make small talk with his princess. Roy nervously glanced around before his facial expression returned to its normal state. Roy hadn't a single idea where he was going, the only thing catching his attention was the small signs telling people to "stop" and "slow." It was slightly unnerving to see the signs, but not see any vehicles besides a few overturned ones here and there, but even then they were big eighteen wheelers. Everything must've been big this far from the city, the rest being a simple rural landscape with a large sky. The thought alone made Roy's stomach twist slightly, and his steps to waver a little bit. Link, the one standing beside him, held a strong hand on his shoulder to steady the redhead's grip, continuing to look ahead with his determined expression, his eyes refusing to flit about for a single moment. Roy felt himself gingerly toss the Hylian's hand off his shoulder and continue to walk, his movements stiff and yet some sort of nimble. He felt like an awkward feline.
Their adventure continued, their focus from Marth and other allies to their parents and possibly reconstruction. Yet, none knew what awaited them in the future, and they didn't even try.
I have so many more chapters to post, this series ending at an unlucky 13 like I planned. It should go well, I hope. I do work hard on this to some extent, you know.
Now, lets see how the rest of this plays out, shall we?